Palampur Becomes First Town in Himachal to Provide Free Wi-Fi Facility

Himachal Pradesh may not be an advanced state in terms of IT infrastructure but a recent development has surely shown a way forward.

Effective 23rd August 2016, Palampur, the town known for its tea plantations in Himachal Pradesh, became the first town in the state to offer free Wi-Fi facility to the people. Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister of Himachal, signaled green to the service from the capital.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Singh talked about his plans to set up 51 Wi-Fi zones at different places to fully cover the town with the facility provided by Reliance-Jio.

He also spoke about the government’s plans to provide Wi-Fi facility in all government colleges of the state in near future and implement the State-level Policy (SLP) for Wi-Fi. This is would enable all telecom operators to install Wi-Fi equipment in urban areas of the State thereby making Himachal Pradesh the first state to introduce such a policy.

The Chief Minister is upbeat about the role of digitalisation in the development of the state. And to achieve the same, the government expressed its commitment to provide high speed internet access to all its citizens.

Also speaking on the occasion, Information Technology and IPH Minister Vidya Stokes lauded the efforts of Himachal Pradesh government and its commitment in strengthening IT services in the State.

As per the IT Advisor to Chief Minister, Gokul Butail, Mall Road, Manali, Kotwali Bazar Dharamshala, 21 government colleges and 17 bus stands in the State have been connected with Wi-Fi facility.